The earthy taste and delicate texture has become a much-loved classic, sitting perfectly on top of a wood-fired dough with a salty ham as the perfect accompaniment.

Although it’s a faultless flavour combination, the ham and mushroom pizza wasn’t one of Italy’s original varieties. Instead, the Capricciosa (as it is more formally known) first popped up in Sweden in the 1970s. While the traditional recipe uses a tomato base, some of the modern recipes opt for a white sauce instead, although our tasting panel found it slightly too rich.

The best of the bunch in our taste test were all about contrasting textures: sourdough was a favourite, with a variety of mushrooms including garlic porcini and juicy chestnut, and delicate prosciutto cotto, topped with stringy mozzarella and creamy mascarpone.

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Marks & Spencer Wood Fired Pizza, Prosciutto Cotto & Funghi

A decadent looking pizza topped with prosciutto cotto ham and roasted garlic mushrooms. The pizza has a strong, rich tomato aroma and a beautiful crisp snap to the edges. Ricotta cheese is paired with mozzarella for a creamy, melting mouthful.

This has a fantastic texture, and the crisp sourdough base is layered with meaty prosciutto cotto ham, creamy mascarpone cheese and a herby porcini tapenade. Full flavoured, the tangy tomatoes complement the earthy taste of the chestnut mushroom.

Co-op Irresistible Ham Mushroom & Mascarpone Pizza

Generously topped with slow cooked prosciutto cotto ham and portobellini mushrooms, this pizza wowed our testers with its punchy flavours that linger in the mouth. The basil adds a delicious herby kick and works well with the garlic flavours. We loved the abundance of sauce and the creamy mascarpone cheese.

Aldi Specially Selected Ham, Mushroom & Mascarpone Pizza

The thick, deliciously crisp sourdough base is topped with generous helpings of ham and garlic-marinated portobello mushrooms. Strong hits of tart tomato sauce and sour, milky cheese are well balanced with caramelised flavours towards the edge. Some testers found the reformed ham too sweet and not as natural looking, but they were pleased with the product overall.

Ocado Gold Ham, Mushroom & Ricotta Pizza

A rustic pizza with plenty of herby, colourful topping. Unfortunately, the ingredients are not distributed well, causing a pile-up in the middle that results in a raw, doughy base and crusty edges. Our tasters liked the fresh ricotta, which reminded many of slightly drier feta, but the mushroom flavour seemed to overpower the pizza at times. It had a delightful and balanced aftertaste.

Asda Extra Special Smoked Ham, Mushroom & Mascarpone 12” Pizza

This pizza is loaded with salty smoky ham, glossy golden mozzarella and savoury mushrooms, with a herby tomato base. We were pleased with the distinct textures and tastes from the ingredients. Despite being packed with delicious flavours, some testers complained all the toppings fell mainly to the middle leaving the crusts bare and hard.

Pizza Express Romana Regina

Though the ingredients are well distributed, we found the ham hock had an unappealing appearance and there was a clear colour difference from slice to slice. Our tasters loved the extra-thin base, though. On first taste, we could only detect olive brine and slightly salted ham hock, but very little else. It's pleasant, but the pizza needs punchier flavours.